U.S. stocks advanced, after falling for the third time in four sessions, amid speculation Greece will reach a deal with its creditors while banks and insurers rose with Treasury yields. Citigroup Inc. rallied 2.2 percent to its highest this year, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. gained more than 1.6 percent. MetLife Inc. jumped 2.4 percent. Trucking companies led a surge in transportation shares. Microsoft Corp. increased 1.5 percent, while Intel Corp. fell for a third day to weigh on semiconductors. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.5 percent to 2,120.99 at 11:04 a.m. in New York, after slipping 0.1 percent Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 144.77 points, or 0.8 percent to 18,156.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 0.7 percent, while the Russell 2000 Index advanced 1 percent to a five-week high. “The market is under the assumption that something is going to get done in Greece,� said Robert Pavlik, who helps oversee $9 billion as chief market strategist at Boston Private Wealth in Boston. “When the market holds up, people drive money back into stocks, and we’re still in an upward trajectory. U.S. equities still have upside potential.� Investors are speculating that Greece will reach a deal with European leaders and the International Monetary Fund before payment deadlines due this month. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will hear details of a final proposal from creditors when he meets European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels on Wednesday. Economic Data Investors are also assessing economic reports for clues on when the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates. Service industries expanded in May at the slowest pace in 13 months, signaling tempered improvement in the biggest part of the economy. A separate report earlier showed companies added more workers in May than the prior month, a sign job growth is getting back on track after a slow start to the year. The government’s employment data is due Friday, and economists predict the economy added 227,000 jobs in May, compared with April’s 223,000, with the unemployment rate remaining at 5.4 percent. The Fed later today releases its Beige Book survey of regional economic conditions. Economists project the first Fed rate increase will come in September. Draghi Comments European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said Wednesday monetary policy stimulus is filtering through to the real economy, as he insisted the ECB needs to see its bond-buying plan through to the central bank’s inflation goal of just below 2 percent. He also said markets must get used to periods of higher volatility, in comments at a press conference in Frankfurt, after officials kept interest rates on hold. The S&P 500 hasn’t had back-to-back gains in more than two weeks, though it’s still less than 1 percent below its May record. The index’s annual advance remains among the worst in developed markets amid mixed economic data and as investors cope with the prospect that the Fed will raise interest rates this year. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index declined 5.2 percent Wednesday to 13.49. The gauge, known as the VIX, last month had its steepest drop since February.

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